VHSAPLitandComp - Nineteen Minutes

During our Contemporary Fiction unit at the end of the year, we will be reading novels and writing responses to various prompts developed from quotes from the text.

You may choose to write a fictional, biographical, or autobiographical narrative, essay, or poem.

If you are not engaged by any prompt in particular, you are permitted to respond to another quote that may have leapt off the page to you or to reflect on something personal. There are some quotes without prompts; feel free to respond to them if you so desire. If you find yourself uninspired by any of the prompts and are unable to find a quote or topic about which to write on your own, you are welcome to go back to a previous section's prompts/quotes and choose from there as well. The goal is to write in response to some motif, theme, or emotion from your experience with the text.

Guided Journal Questions:

Reading 1 (pp. 3-43)

On pg. 3, the speaker writes, “you can’t take back a word that’s already been said out loud.” Explore the power of words. You may wish to tell a story, true or fictional, about regretting a word.
The speaker writes on pg. 3 that “I didn’t get here by myself.” Compose a short story that begins with this line.
Josie tells her mother, “You asked me to tell you something, you didn’t ask for the truth” (p. 3) Why is the truth so difficult to speak? Write a poem about truth. If you want to challenge yourself, try writing it without using the word truth.
According to the speaker, “when Josie entered high school, …the tunnel of communication between them [her and her mother] slowly bricked shut.” (p. 3) Why does this happen? Write a personal essay about the chasm between parents and teenagers.
“Either Josie was someone she didn’t want to be, or she was someone who nobody wanted.” (p. 8)
“The problem was, when Josie looked in the mirror, she noticed what was underneath that raw skin, instead of what had been painted upon it.” (p. 8) Analyze the masks we use to hide our insecurities. Are they always literal masks, such as make-up, or do we sometimes don metaphorical masks, like laughter?
“Letting his mind sew a seam across the hem of his life” (p. 12)
“Tears had a whole different melody, didn’t they, without the pain threaded through them?” (p. 15) If tears could sing, what would their songs be? Write song lyrics from the different types of tears’ point of view.
“Whenever she came into the cafeteria, Josie felt like a naturalist observing different species in their natural, nonacademic habitat.” (p. 16) Imagine walking into Valley’s cafeteria. What would a naturalist observe?
“Gossip was as good a catalyst as any chemical” (p. 17) Write a poem about gossip.
“There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.” (p. 28) Which is better to do? Which is easier? Which do people most often choose to do?
“You could be solidly pro-choice but unwilling or unable to make that decision for yourself – that’s exactly where the choice part kicked in.” (p. 30) Explore why people can be pro-choice but unable to make that choice themselves. Are there other choices we may favor but be unable to make for ourselves?
“Isn’t it amazing how, when you strip away everything, people are so much alike?” (p. 32)
“The plates of the skull shifted enough to make giving birth easier; they fused together by the time the baby was a toddler. It was a vulnerability we were all born with, one that literally grew into an adult’s hardheadedness.” (p. 33) Why do adults become so "hard-headed"? Do you find yourself becoming that way as you age?
“It struck Lacy that she didn’t really know what color a chameleon was before it started changing.” (p. 37) Think of a person who is chameleon-like. What color is he/she naturally? Why?
“When you’re hurting deeply, you go inward.” (p. 41) Write a story that ends with this line.
“Maybe bad things happen because it’s the only way we can keep remembering what good is supposed to look like.” (p. 43) Write your philosophy about "bad things."

Reading 2 (pp. 45-89)

“What would an anthropologist say about the student body of Sterling High…” (p. 47) Rewrite this paragraph about Valley High School.
“When you loved someone, you didn’t want to be the one who brought their world crashing down.” (p. 63)
“For as long as he could remember, he’d watched his brother Joey get on the bus, and it was a mystery of dynamic proportion.” (p. 65) The mystique of school when we didn’t get to go is often awe-inspiring. Why does that mystique wear off? Are there other things that amaze us until we finally get to participate? Why do you think that happens?
Peter tells his parents, “I’m not Joey.” (p. 69) Explore the nature of sibling rivalry.
“Some kids are simply magnets for teasing. Other children see a weakness, and they exploit it.” (p. 72) Why are children so antagonistic with each other? Write a story about this dynamic.
“The sad fact is that if Peter wants it to end, he’s going to have to be part of the solution.” (p. 73) Did the teacher have a right to say this to Peter’s parents? What role should teachers play in ending teasing?
“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask…with nothing beneath it?” (p. 83) Do people get caught up in the masks they wear so that they lose themselves? Write a poem about integrity.
“A gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it.” (p. 89) Write your philosophy about gun control.

Reading 3 (pp. 91 – 136)

“Whether or not you believe in Fate comes down to one thing: who you blame when something goes wrong.” (p. 91) Write a poem about Fate, or write a story in which Fate is the speaker.
“He’d held onto his wife as if she were driftwood in the middle of this flood.” (p. 96) Who would be your driftwood? Why?
“You couldn’t argue the facts; you could only change the lens through which you looked at them.” (p. 96) Write a brief story (1-3 paragraphs) from one point-of-view. Then, rewrite it from an opposing point-of-view.
“If you listen carefully in a hospital, you can hear the truth.” (p. 100) Where else, if we listen carefully, can we hear the truth? Why isn’t the truth what is said directly?
“If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn’t be filled?” (p. 102) Answer these questions in a personal essay.
“The problem isn’t with rock lyrics, it’s with the fabric of society itself.” (p. 110) Many people have come to blame outside influences for children’s behaviors, creating a culture of victimization. Why has this happened?
“It had gotten so quiet in the room that you could hear the sound of your own doubts.” (p. 111) Write a story that begins or ends with this line.
“With a question on his lips that he didn’t utter.” (p. 112) Why do we hold back the questions we want to be answered? Write a poem about unanswered questions.
“What you see is not always what it seems to be.” (p. 113)
“there were levels of tragedy” ( p. 115)
“Closure, apparently, meant that she was supposed to realize that losing normal was something you get over.” (p. 117)
Matt’s father remembers the “first time” (p. 118) he had taken his son out to skate. Write about a memory of a first time you had with your parents.
“When the only company you had was yourself, and when you didn’t want to socialize, there was only one way to leave the room.” (p. 120) Write a story about suicide with the method of suicide as the speaker.
“So this was how a judge lived.” (p. 121) Write a paragraph about a profession that interests you that begins with this line.
Josie tells Patrick that Peter was different because “he didn’t try to fit in.” (p. 123)
“People could argue that monsters weren’t born, they were made.” (p. 125) How much does environment influence the criminal mind? Write an essay exploring nature vs. nurture.
“He knew there was a difference between something that makes you happy and something that doesn’t make you unhappy. The trick was convincing yourself these were one and the same.” (p. 130) Is this the definition of contentment? How do contentment and happiness differ? Create a conversation between the two.
“Expectation divided by reality” = hope. (p. 130)
Peter questions America: “If it’s a melting pot, then you’re really just trying to make everyone the same, aren’t you?” (p. 135) Is this the definition of America, or does the more contemporary metaphor of a salad make more sense? Create your own metaphor that encompasses America.
“Imagine waking up one morning and finding a piece of yourself you didn’t even know existed.” (p. 136)

Reading 4 (pp. 137 – 161)

“You can feel everyone’s eyes on you, stuck like Velcro.” (p. 137) Write about a time when you felt this same sensation.
“They fell back in step as if they’d never missed a beat. That, Peter figured, was the very definition of a best friend.” (p. 139) Who, in your life, fits this definition? Describe your friendship.
“That was the way this society worked: you were only at the bottom of the totem pole until you could find someone else to take your place.” (p. 140)
Picoult depicts 9/11 as it might have seemed to the middle schoolers. Write your memory of that day.
“She wondered, period.” (p. 151) Write a poem that ends with this line.
“What it meant to love someone and hate them at the same time.” (p. 154) There is a saying that it’s a fine line between love and hate. Why?
“He was the one people gravitated toward at a party.” (p. 156) Write a characterization paragraph where you repeat the syntax "He (or she) was the one…" to describe a person you know.
“The enemy was right around the corner.” (p. 157) Write a short story that begins with this line.
“His pulse was pounding so hard…” (p. 157) Write about a memory when your pulse was pounding.
“He suddenly remembers that this was what it looked like from the other side.” (p. 159)
“There’s different kinds of real.” (p. 160)
“Change could be that dramatic: in an instant, you could go from wanting to kill someone to wanting to kill yourself.” (p. 160)

Reading 5 (pp. 163 – 194)

“Nearly overnight, the landscape’s changed around us.” (p. 167) Write a story that begins with this line.
“When the image you’ve had of something doesn’t match its reality.” (p. 167) Write about a time when this irony became very present in your life.
“So much of the language of love was like that: you devoured someone with your eyes, you drank in the sight of him, you swallowed him whole. Love was sustenance, broken down and beating through your bloodstream.” (p. 173) Is love enough to sustain us? What happens, then, if we don’t have the love we need?
“And sometimes when you start looking, you find things you don’t really want to see.” (p. 175)

Reading 6 (pp. 195 – 240)

“Something the ordinary person might dismiss as gibberish was actually vibrant and eye-catching, if you knew how to look at it.” (p. 202) Often, our perceptions define beauty. What types of things influence our perceptions? Write a poem about perception or beauty.
Read Lewis’ findings on happiness on page 208. Reflect on why those findings are true or false.
“Happiness wasn’t just what you reported; it was also how you chose to remember.” (p. 208) Do we have this much power over our happiness? Why or why not?
Matt says, “Because if there isn’t a them, there can’t be an us.” (p. 219)
“Everyone has a choice.” (p. 229) Is this true? Write a story about a difficult choice, or write a poem about choice.

Reading 7 (pp. 241 – 286)

“Why is it so easy for people to point a finger at someone else?” (p. 248)
“Once you light the fuse, either you destroy the bomb before it goes off…or the bomb destroys everything else.” (p. 252) What would be the bomb in your life?
“What Hollywood imagined teenaged life to be like.” (p. 253) Juxtapose some movies you've seen about teenage life. Are they realistic? Hyperbole?
“Part of growing up was learning not to be quite that honest – learning when it was better to lie, rather than hurt someone with the truth.” (p. 257) Write a poem about honesty.
“You could hear hope fluttering to the rafters on the ceiling.” (p. 263) Write a story that ends with this line.
“No matter how much you’d screwed up in your life, you liked knowing that there were people out there even more stupid than you.” (p. 268)
“Sometimes it’s easier” to “say something to a stranger.” (p. 283) Why is this easier?
“She feared that once she opened her mouth, it would escape like a hurricane.” (p. 284)
“We did the best we could.” (p. 286) Write a story about the aftermath of some event that begins with this line.
“It wasn’t good enough.” (p. 286) Finish the above story with this line.
“Children didn’t make their own mistakes.” (p. 286)
“The rain fell between them like a curtain.” (p. 286) Write a story that begins with this line.

Reading 8 (pp. 287 – 308)

The psychiatrist “blew through the door on a gust of wind.” (p. 287)
“In the grand scheme of life, these incidents are a tiny piece of the puzzle.” (p. 288) Explore the cumulative effect of the incidents in our lives.
Write a mystery story where “the only witnesses are the koi in the pond” (p. 290)
“They’re the ones who’ll change the world.” (p. 293) Who is they? Write a poem about the one who'll change the world.
“She looks at me like I’m from another planet.” (p. 297)
“It was too late to take back the truth.” (p. 297) Do you agree that there are times when it’s too late? Why does our society advocate truth so vocally if there are times when it shouldn’t be shared?
“She realized that her actions could transform the world.” (p. 297) Write a story about a superhero who transforms the world.
“She would have liked to hold on to this moment, drag it wider and fuller, until it covered up so many others that had come before.” (p. 307) Describe a moment from your life like this one.
“It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” (p. 307)

Reading 9 (pp. 309 – 347)

“The blessed few that had been living under a rock.” (p. 335) Is ignorance really bliss? Write an essay exploring the pros and cons of ignorance.
“It was easier for girls” because they are allowed to cry. (p. 342) Explore the expectations we place on gender in our society. Does one gender have it “easier”?
“Maybe empathy, like any unused muscle, simply atrophied.” (p. 343) What other emotions must be used before the atrophy? Write a poem about those emotions.
“Sometimes, a person could be haunted.” (p. 344) What are some things that haunt us? Write a poem that explores this haunting.
“Until the lie did not taste like licorice on her tongue.” (p. 345) Write about a memory of yours when the lie lingered in your mouth like a bad taste.
To “know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night replaying one moment over and over so vividly that you might as well be living it again.” (p. 346) Describe a memory you have like this.

Reading 10 (pp. 348 – 388)

Increases in happiness are “based not on the event that caused the happiness, but rather the state you were in when it happened.” (p. 349)
“You don’t need water to feel like you’re drowning, do you?” (p. 355)
“When you assumed winter would last forever, this unexpected beauty could take you by surprise.” (p. 356)
“Eskimos believed stars were holes in the sky where people who’d died could peek through at you.” (p. 356) Write a myth about the stars.
“There weren’t words, really, for moments like this.” (p. 357) What kinds of moments take our words? Why do words sometimes fail us?
Jordan talks about Peter’s first day of school during his opening argument. Write about your first day of school. (p. 363)
When the witnesses are sequestered, “no one seemed to be inclined to break into their usual pods.” (p. 367)
“She could feel eyes on her, host as the sun in a desert.” (p. 377)
“it was a little bit like the Twilight Zone.” (p. 382) Write a story in which the speaker experiences a Twilight Zone-type of moment.
Josie liked Peter’s house because “it was what she’d always imagined a family felt like.” (p. 387) Write a descriptive paragraph that repeats syntax beginning with “family feels like…”
“Jail wasn’t all that different from public school, really.” (p. 388) Is this true? Create another analogy for public school and explore it in an essay.

Reading 11 (pp. 389 – 416)

“Life was a series of ifs.” (p. 395) Write an if paper where you explore your worries about college and post-education life through if statements.
“Because my friends thought it was a good idea, too.” (p. 404) Peer pressure is a powerful motivator for both positive and negative actions. Why does it motivate us so? Does it ever stop? Write a story about someone struggling with peer pressure or write a personal narrative about a time when you struggled with it.
“Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.” (p. 409) Explore the angst of fitting in in a personal essay or poem.
“The house had been pulsing like a carnival.” (p. 409) Write a story that begins with this line.
Peter reads a letter from one of the victims “all night long, over and over, until the sun rose.” (pp. 416) Write a letter to someone (addressees’ names are optional) that you would want them to read over and over, until the sun rises.

Reading 12 (pp. 416 – 455)

Lacy watches Peter’s “face transform as she spoke, like the change of a season.” (p. 419) Some people wear their emotions on their faces. Why are some better at containing their emotions while others broadcast them freely?
“the world might look completely different from another angle.” (p. 421)
“At six in the morning, Sterling High School was a sleeping giant.” (p. 433) Write a story about Valley High School that begins with this line.
“Do you know how there are moments when the world moves so slowly you can feel your bones shifting, your mind tumbling? When you think that no matter what happens to you for the rest of your life, you will remember every last detail of that one minute forever?” (pp. 439 – 440) Describe a moment like this from your life.
“Love was supposed to move mountains, to make the world go round, to be all you need.” (p. 450) What happens when love isn’t enough?